Blue to Purple Perennial Flowers

Cool blue and purple flowers add a sense of tranquility and spaciousness to a garden. Planting lavender or lilac-colored flowers at the edges of your property is an old trick for making the space appear larger. From a distance, pale blues seem to blur into the landscape beyond.

Used alone, purple perennial flowers can make a planting look too heavy. To avoid this dilemma, mix in some pink or white plants to lighten the mood.

True Blue Perennials

"There is no blue without yellow and orange, and when you paint blue, paint yellow and orange as well."

Van Gough

Magenta, orchid, and violet share a common denominator: the color blue. Yet, truly blue flowers are relatively rare. Consequently, they are underused.

This is a shame as blue perennials can really make a composition sing.

Blue compliments all the different shades of purple when planted along side them. To intensify the colors of blue to purple perennial flowers, plant orange or yellow perennials amongst them. Plants with silver foliage will also make your blues bluer.

Magenta/Red-Purple Perennial Flowers

Heliotrope/Pink-Purple Perennials

Black Purple Flowers

Black plants are the little black dresses of the botanical world. And just as you wouldn't be caught without that sexy little number in the back of your closet, you won't want to do without a hint of black in your borders.

From darkest aubergine to black velvet, these are moody colors that will make a bold statement wherever they are used.

Orchid Purple Flowers

Of the many shades of purple, orchid is my personal favorite. More joyful than lavender, less exuberant than heliotrope, orchid is bright enough to lift your spirits and somber enough not to shock.

Lavender Perennial Flowers

Lavender is purple tempered with gray. This gives it a sophistication the other shades lack. This is the best purple to use in formal plantings.

Violet Perennial Flowers

Violet flowers are traditionally used to establish distance in the landscape. Their color seems to deepen as you move away from them.

The famous garden designer, Gertrude Jekyll, was known for planting violet perennials at the far end of her gardens for this very reason.